Minor Prophets · Chapter 7 of 7

Micah 7

Micah laments a society so corrupt that no upright person remains and family bonds have collapsed. Yet he resolves to wait for the God of his salvation, confident that though he falls he will rise and though he sits in darkness the LORD will be his light. The chapter closes with a soaring hymn to God's incomparable mercy, who pardons iniquity and casts sins into the depths of the sea.

What happens in Micah 7

Micah cries woe over a moral famine where good people have vanished like gleaned fruit. Everyone lies in wait for blood, officials take bribes, and the best of them is a thorn hedge. Trust has broken down so completely that a man's enemies are his own household, son against father and daughter against mother. Refusing despair, Micah turns to wait for the LORD, declaring that his God will hear him. Though he has fallen and sits in darkness, he will arise and the LORD will be his light.

He accepts God's discipline for his sin until God pleads his cause and brings him to the light. The enemy who mocks Where is your God will be trodden down. Micah foresees walls rebuilt and peoples gathering, then bursts into praise: who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity, delighting in mercy, subduing sins and casting them into the sea.

Micah 7 in context

This closing chapter of Micah moves from lament to confession to doxology, a pattern common in the Psalms. Written in eighth-century Judah amid social decay, it names the breakdown of the most basic loyalties. The final hymn plays on the meaning of Micah's own name, which asks who is like the LORD.

The reference to sins cast into the sea and mercy to Abraham anchors God's forgiveness in his ancient covenant promises.

Main themes of Micah 7

Micah 7 (KJV)

1Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit. 2The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. 4The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. 5Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. 7Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. 8Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. 9I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. 10Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. 11In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. 12In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. 13Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. 14Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 15According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things. 16The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee. 18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Verses to carry from Micah 7

“For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”Micah 7:6

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.”Micah 7:8

“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”Micah 7:18

Reflection

When trusted relationships fail and darkness surrounds you, will you manufacture false cheer or wait for the God of your salvation? Micah models honest lament that ends in worship. Let the wonder of a God who casts your sins into the sea move you from despair to praise, even before the light fully dawns.

A prayer from Micah 7